The Diary of an Insert
by kage kitsune 14
Summary: I was supposed to be normal. I didn't expect my Yu-Gi-Oh! volume one manga to come to life and suck me into the story. Now what do I do? I wasn't exactly up to date on the manga. In fact I had only read the first eight chapters of the first volume. OC. Manga-verse.
1. Waking

Hello, my name is Marie.

"Oh no attack of the Mary-Sue!" I can hear you exclaim to yourself.

NO!

It's pronounced Mah-Ree. Like the middle name.

Why am I explaining all this? I've decided to write in a diary to explain what happens as it happens, so if I ever get back home I can prove to myself that this isn't a dream. It's real. It is and did happen. I'm not insane. Well not completely insane. I think everyone needs a dose of insanity every once and a while or life would be boring.

So I guess I should start at the beginning...

_I had been doing my normal routine. Wake up late in the morning. Eat something. Shower. Then after I got dressed I went back to my room and lounged around, surfing the internet. It's the summer vacation after all. And I needed a break after a year of school. _

_I was currently nineteen. My family was weird. There was no other way to describe them. I had twin brothers, who were two years younger than me, a mom and a dad. Just the normal American family: 2.5 kids, a dog... all that was missing was the white picket fence._

_Not that I really wanted a white picket fence or something. I mostly kept to myself. I had a few good friends, but we rarely saw each other outside of school. My brothers were usually out with their friends so I didn't hang out with them. My dad worked and my mom gathered disability payments and sat around watching different television shows most of the day._

_I was an odd one out. _

_I loved to read. I have no clue where I got it from. My dad hated reading, he always said it put him to sleep. Mom only read gossip magazines and such. And both of my brothers hated reading. _

_I disliked watching sports. I didn't mind playing most of them but I couldn't stand sitting around watching them. _

_I was a kid caught in a teenagers body essentially. I loved video games- especially Pokemon. I loved anime and manga- everything from 'InuYasha' to 'One Piece', and from 'Naruto' to 'Yu-Gi-Oh!'. I loved them all. I loved TCG games, RPG games, and everything like that._

_My brothers used to like TCG games and played with me but they eventually grew up. I feel like I got stuck somewhere in between growing up and staying a kid. Don't get me wrong I was always mature for my age but I held onto games and such tightly. Even after most of my peers had switched from TCG games to make-up, from video games to teen-magazines. _

_I was just left somewhere behind as all of my good friends became boy obsessed and such. Sure I would find guys attractive, I was a teenage girl after all. I did have hormones. It's just I didn't pine after guys. Sure, I was all for rating guys on their hotness factor and such but when it came to actually dating I fell flat._

_Why would a guy wanna date a plain girl like me anyway. I was slightly overweight, had plain brown hair, and boring hazel eyes. I wasn't exactly a good catch._

_I had been sighing over the first volume of the 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' manga once more. For some reason I was really attracted to Yami-Yuugi. Even if he was a sociopath in the first few manga chapters. I had just finished reading chapter three, Hard Beat! _

_The antagonist of this chapter was Souzouji. He was a bully and a really terrible singer. He catches Yuugi on the bus to school and threatens him that he has to sell ten tickets to his all night solo kareoke party. When Yuugi doesn't manage to do it he forces Yuugi to listen to his horrible music. Then when Yuugi finds out Souzouji beat up Hanasaki, Yami took over and makes Souzouji play a Shadow Game with him. Then when Yami wins he makes Souzouji have to listen to his own heart beat at an extremely loud volume._

_It wasn't one of my favorite chapters. I actually liked 'The Escaped Prisioner' and 'Burning Struggle To The Death'. I wasn't actually to far in the 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' manga. I mean I just started really getting into 'Yu-Gi-Oh!', I had watched the anime when I was younger and I had a few of the cards but not a lot of them. I remember having Monster Reborn and Dark Magician Girl. I don't think I had any others..._

_I was sighing hopelessly over the manga tracing Yami's face absently. Wishing I could've had something similar to the adventures Yuugi and his friends had. I had closed my eyes with my thought and snapped them open to look down at Yami's face. He smiled up at me from the page and I blinked. His face had been one full of cockiness and self-esteem. An expression that screamed he was proud of what he had managed. Now the expression was different. I rubbed my eyes harshly. I looked back down. The smirk was back in place. _

_"Okay. Looks like I need to do something else. Rest my eyes or something. I'm seeing things." I muttered to myself out loud._

_I sighed laying back on my bed. Pulling a pillow up under my head and staring at my ceiling. I had painted it a light blue. My walls were almost the same shade as a green screen. I had wanted it to be emerald green but my dad had told me I needed a lighter color or it would be like a cave in my room. I had relented and bought a lighter green._

_I watched the fan swirl slowly. Suddenly a new source of light was introduced, I turned towards the window. No the sun wasn't the source of the light. I turned to look around the room. My eyes found the source, and I was in total disbelief. My manga book was glowing with golden light. I scooted back away from the book and when I reached the wall I couldn't back up anymore. _

_Suddenly the light beamed out towards me. I yelped as the light wrapped around my right arm and right leg dragging me towards the book. I struggled kicking out trying to free my limbs from the light. I grasped the edge of my bed, and tried to pull myself away from the book. I watched my foot sink into the book. I felt like screaming as my leg sunk farther and farther into the book. _

_My fingers started to cramp. I felt my grip slipping. And the book continued to suck my body in. _

_I my fingers completely slipped and I made a desperate grab for the edge of the bed once more and only managed to grab my blank diary. I had never really had a reason to write in it before. I held onto it tightly. If it was the only thing I was going to manage to bring with me to where ever I was going then at least I had something._

_I felt myself sucked into the book. I stared up at the small rectangle of light that had probably been the entrance to where ever I was. Suddenly the rectangle folded in half and with a echoing thud closed shutting me into blackness._

I had woken up in a hospital. I had no clue where I was or what had happened.

"Oh. You're awake." A nurse stated sounding pleased.

"W-where?" I asked. My voice cracked. My throat felt dry, like I had snored the night before.

"Here. Take this." she ordered holding out a pair of small pills and a small paper cup filled with water.

I accepted the pills and downed them with the water in one gulp. Then I finished off the water.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"This is Domino City Hospital. Do you remember what happened?" she asked.

I shook my head a negative. Of course I did, but I wasn't going to tell her I got sucked into my manga book, I'd be switched from this hospital to a mental hospital instead.

Wait, did she say **Domino** City Hospital?

"How long have I been here?" I asked instead.

"About a week. You were unconscious. Do you have a name?" she asked.

Shit. She said Domino right? So she'd be expecting a japanese name.

"I don't know." I lied. Maybe I could do the whole amnesia patient thing... It might work for a while.

"Fine. We've been calling you Daredare (doubled form of who). I assume you've just temporarily lost your memories. There doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong with you. We'll keep you for observation for another day or so, or until you regain your memories." She stated marking something down on her clipboard.

"Um. Where's the bathroom?" I asked sheepishly.

She moved over to me and gently took out the IV and pointed to a room just a few feet away. I got up and shuffled my way to the bathroom and quickly did my business. I washed my hands then absently looked up into the mirror only to freeze in shock.

No way. No way in hell. I had lost nearly a foot in height, which was a big deal because I had only been five-foot-four in the first place. My hair had gotten longer, it was now nearly to my butt. But that wasn't really the problem. It was turquoise. My hair, my boring brown hair, was now turquoise. I whimpered. My parents were going to flip!

That's not even mentioning my eye color. Those were purple of all possible colors. I had purple eyes. My mom was going to try to steal my eyes now. She adored purple things. I think she has a problem...

My face had also narrowed quite a bit, as had the rest of my body. I looked like I had gone on an extensive diet, lost a ton of weight, then had a bunch of 'tucks', so I didn't have extra skin hanging around. I wouldn't normally mind except the fact I wasn't staring at myself in the mirror. I was staring at a stranger. I wasn't Marie Laise. I was someone completely different. And I would need to come up with a new name to fit my new look, and fast.

Hitomi. I finally decided staring at my new eyes. It fitted at least. Hitomi was a name given to daughters with especially beautiful eyes. Now for a last name...Haisai. It meant Ash Companion if I remembered correctly. It would work. I had no clue how long I would be here so I forced myself to repeat the name a few dozen times under my breath trying to memorize it. I could remember Hitomi. That was the easy part, the Haisai was going to be harder.

I fiddled with my hair, combing my fingers through it, untangling knots as I went. I disliked having my hair down, it knotted up too easily. I would be glad when I could get a hair tie.

How old was I anyway? I didn't look nineteen anymore. I looked like a younger teenager, fourteen-fifteen at the most... I shook it off, I would worry about it later. I would gradually begin to _remember_ things as the days past. First my given name, then my age, etc... Hopefully this would work.

"Daredare, are you okay?" the nurse asked from the other side of the door.

"Yeah. Give me a sec." I said pulling my hair to the side and quickly braiding it. I didn't have anything to tie it back but at least it would be mostly out of my face.

Then I moved back into the room and back to my bed. The nurse settled me down in the bed and told me that she would be right back. She left. I yawned. Even though I just woke up, I still felt exhausted. I stretched out before laying back down.

"Here." The nurse returned with a tray of food. The bland hospital food. I sat up. The nurse put the tray down on that little table thing that they could extend over the bed. I quietly thanked her and began to eat. When I was finished she took the empty tray and left.

I sighed and leaned back in bed. There wasn't really anything I could do. I looked around for something to do. There was a television, but I was right it would only have a few boring channels... Oh well, it was better than sitting around.

I flicked the channel. The weather channel, there was going to be a rain storm next Wednesday... Oh. Saturday morning cartoons. 'Funny Bunny'? What the hell. It's got to be a rip off of Bugs Bunny. I hit the guide button, shit. There was a marathon of this cartoon. I sighed and cancelled the guide and went back to watching the cartoon. I fought a smile as the dog, Ruff Ruff McDogg, missed Funny Bunny as he dove at him. I snorted as the dog missed again. It was like Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Except the dog wasn't trying to eat Funny Bunny.

Soon I was laughing freely. I felt more childish than I had in years, and that was saying something...

"Hey, sweetie. How are you?" a different nurse peeked in the room. I grinned at her.

"I'm okay. Do you have a deck of cards?" I asked. I had a feeling the cartoons were going to run out eventually.

"Sure thing, sweetie." she left. I apparently looked younger than I thought I did.

The nurse returned and handed me a deck of cards. I thanked her and smiled.

She said it was no problem then left.

I watched cartoons and played a few dozen games of solitaire. By the time I went to sleep I had played fifty games of solitaire, winning about forty of them, and about twenty games of clock solitaire I won about ten of those. I hadn't really played it before but I knew how to play it so I went with it.

**A/n: I just wanted to try a Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic. I just got into reading the manga so I wanted to try it. :D Tell me what you think. **


	2. Running

"How old did you say you were?" my first nurse asked.

"I'm nineteen." I answered.

"How about the truth?"

"That is the truth. I'm nineteen."

"You can't be any older than twelve." the nurse replied.

It had been two days since I had woken up in the hospital. I had told them my made up name yesterday but when I tried to tell them my age this was what happened. Apparently I looked even younger than I thought. Twelve? Seriously twelve?!

"You're being discriminatory towards short people. I'm just short. I am nineteen." I tried again. I don't think this was going to work. Great. I got sucked into a manga, and now I was going to get stuck in an orphanage or worse because I was short.

"There's no way." the nurse replied bluntly.

"Fine. Give me a challenge only a nineteen year old could solve." I replied.

She nodded abruptly and left the room.

Great. I had a feeling she was just humoring me, and I was going to be dropped in a orphanage anyway.

I really don't wanna find out if rumors about orphanages are true...

When the nurse came back she was escorting two men in monkey suits.

"This is Kumoji-san, and this is Ryujii-san. They're with Child Services. Since no one has come forward to claim you, you will be sent to an orphanage until you reach the age of majority or are adopted. I put down your age as twelve. I have no clue how old you are but since you won't tell the truth I'll have to go with my estimation." the nurse said.

Wow she was a complete bitch. I didn't like her from the begining she seemed kinda cold and all but this was pushing it.

"Come on Hitomi-chan. We have to get going." Ryujii was an older male, black hair sprinkled with gray, and serious brown eyes. Kumojii was older, white hair, and steel gray eyes.

I frowned but walked slightly in front of them as they ushered me out of the hospital. There was a car waiting out front, I could see it from the glass doors. Ryujii and Kumojii stopped by the check out desk and I figured this was going to be my one chance.

I bolted. Out the doors, down the street, and into the second alley I came across. I fled down that ally took a right, the direction away from the hospital and kept running.

I heard Ryujii's voice bellowing somewhere behind me, way behind me, but I didn't slow. I continued running like my life depended on it. And it sort of did. It was the difference between freedom and being shoved into an orphanage to be forgotten.

My hair flew out of the braid, thick strands of turquoise hair flying out behind me. I took another ally and slipped into the mall. Now did I have any money on me? Yes. These were the clothes I had been wearing before. I had about twenty bucks. How much was that in Japanese currency and where could I get it exchanged?

I breathed deeply trying to calm my breathing. I didn't want to draw attention to myself. I hurried over to a machine. I blinked at the kanji as they morphed in front of me spelling out 'currency exchange'. Well that was oddly helpful. I put my twenty bucks in the machine, it looked almost like a soda machine or something, then it started to spit out more bills. They were in odd colors, some were yellow, blue, and even red. Except they looked like they were water colored, all faded and such.

I counted out the money, the numbers at the top helping tremendously. One thousand, eight hundred and fifty yen. I think it was called. I slipped out of the mall and hurried down the street. I think I was in the business district. Then a sign practically jumped out at me. "Burger World" I read to myself.

I slipped in. A brown haired girl I recognized as Anzu greeted me and led me to a booth close by. I scanned the menu. "Um. A double cheese burger and a root beer." I ordered. "Sure thing kid. I'll be right back."

I frowned at her back. "Not a kid. I'm just short." I muttered under my breath.

"Here you go, sweetie." Anzu had returned with my order. I plastered on a fake smile. "I'm nineteen." I told her bluntly as I picked up my burger. I watched out of the corner of my eye as her mouth dropped open. Either she was in shock and believed me, or she thought I was crazy.

She left me alone to finish my meal, I ate slowly. This was the first real food I've had in three days. Hospital food sucks.

I set my pay down and stood to leave. I was just stepping out of the door when I was grabbed. Shit. A large hand went across my mouth and a gun was suddenly pressed to my temple. Shit.

My life officially sucked.

"Listen up! Make any noise and the chick gets it!" He announced to the restaurant dragging me over to a booth.

"It's the escaped criminal!" someone exclaimed. I felt like killing someone. They were gambling with my life damnit. No one else's.

"AAAHHH!" someone else shouted.

Damnit! My life was on the line here! Quit disobeying the psycho's demands. Especially when a gun was being pointed at my face.

"Everyone shut up!" crazy ordered.

"Heh. I won't be staying long. Just long enough to eat. Then I'm out of here!" He stated to the patrons of the restaurant. "In the meantime, stay next to me and be quiet!" he stated the last part to me. I nodded as much as I was able to with his hand around half my face.

"Good. I got a nice cooperative hostage." he stated as if he was praising a dog for doing a trick. "Now I'll blindfold you with this." He yanked out a handkerchief and I had a vague thought along the lines of 'I hope he didn't blow his nose recently.'. "When a person's eyesight is blocked, they become more frightened, while being muted has the opposite effect!"

"After all..." he continued. "before executing a prisoner, do they mute or blindfold him?! Which reminds me, I was on Death Row, you know... heh heh." he finished with a laugh as if his upcoming death was nothing.

I felt the gun pressed against the back of my head even as he tied the handkerchief around my eyes. Shit. I was going to die wasn't I? After all I wasn't really friends with Yuugi, so Yami had no reason to take over and rescue me. I was going to die in a fictional reality. Would my dead body be spat out back in my world? Or would my parents just wonder where I had disappeared to for the rest of my life?

I closed my eyes, my breath was coming in shorter quicker breathes as I began to panic at my own thoughts. I was shoved roughly into a booth, and I sat quietly as possible with my breathes coming quicker.

I felt the bench move slightly as the criminal sat down next to me. "Now bring me whatever I want!" he ordered. "Who should do it?" he asked rhetorically. "The weak looking shrimp! Yeah you!" he shifted slightly.

I tried to get my breathing under control. Deep breaths. Nice deep breaths. I don't want to hyperventilate and pass out. Who knows what he would do...

"Everyone else get on the floor! One step towards me and this chick dies!" I barely withhold a whimper at that. Shit. I was going to be the one that got hurt if anyone disobeyed.

I heard a muttered swear word, as everyone shuffled into the ordered positions.

"Get me some booze! And smokes! 'Lucky Stripe'! Only that brand! Haha!" he ordered gleefully.

'Any god that's listening, this would be a great time for a miracle to happen. Like the criminal suddenly getting carpel tunnel and having to put his gun down. Or a group of professional hostage situation people...whatever they're called. Anything, please.' I thought to any greater being listening. My breath was coming in deep pants, I was hyperventilating.

"Shut up! I can't hear anything over your breathing!" The criminal ordered slapping me harshly across the face.

I yelped before I could stop myself and slid slightly away turning my face as far away from him as I could and hunching down presenting a smaller target.

There was a clank as a serving tray was put down on the table, and a softer thud as someone sat opposite of the criminal.

"Heh... here's what you ordered." a dark voice commented. His voice was deep, commanding, it rang with a odd sort of authority.

"Why you... Did I say you could sit down?!" Criminal demanded angrily.

"What? I thought I'd keep you company. If you got the guts, how about we play a game?"

"A g-game?" he stuttered slightly sounding dumbfounded. There was silence for a while. "A game, huh? I need to have a little fun..."

"However the stakes are quite high. The loser of this game, loses his life!"

"Interesting. What are the rules?" criminal asked.

"Then I'll explain the rules."

"I'm listening. Heh heh..." his laugh creeped me out every time I hear it. I hear the sounds of liquid being poured. Probably his booze.

"We have to stay on opposite sides of the table, but we can interact with only one restriction: we each choose one of our ten fingers, and the finger you choose is the only one you may move! Which finger you use is entirely up to you." he explained. "So which will you chose?"

"Of course I choose my right index finger! All I need to kill you is to pull the trigger!"

"Okay! In that case, I choose my right thumb." the silence settles for a few moments. "And what will you do when the game has begun?"

"I'll pull the trigger of course!"

"Of course." he repeated quietly. "Game Start!" he announced.

"And now game over!" the criminal declared.

There was a click.

"Tch. I forgot I ordered a lighter. And it's been a while since I had a smoke. As your last act, use that thumb to light my cigarette, after that I'll kill you!" the criminal ordered boastfully.

Pssh. "Here's the lighter, take it with you to the next world." Yami's voice ordered calmly.

"Huh! Wha!?"

"Don't fire your pistol, either! The recoil would definitely make the lighter fall! Plus that alcohol is Russian Vodka, 90% proof! Let's go, girl." he added quietly grabbing me gently by my arm and pulling be away from the soon to be fireworks collection.

There was a loud 'fwoom' as the criminal lite up like a bonfire with a tire and gasoline. I had yanked the handkerchief off as soon as I had been pulled away and I watched with a mix of awe and horror as the man went up in flames. That had to be one of the worst ways to die.

I turned and wrapped my arms securely around my savoir. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I chanted hugging him tight.

He hesitantly patted me on the head before he disappeared in a flash of light and was replaced by a mini version of himself.

"Do I know you?" he asked hesitantly.

"No." I mutter hugging him anyway. "but considering you just saved my life I don't think we can be total strangers. I'm Hitomi."

"Um. Nice to meet you Hitomi. I'm Yuugi. And what do you mean I saved you?"

"You went all deep-voice-awesomeness, and let's play a game, and he ended up getting turned into an imitation of Guy Fawkes day." I stated. Wow, now I realized why the nurse and everyone thought I was younger than I was.

"Uh Guy Fawkes?"

"Um he was the only guy who was caught trying to assassinate the English King James in 1604."

"You're not from Japan are you?"

"I don't think so." I stated playing up the amnesia thing.

"Don't you know?" Anzu asked.

"Amnesia. I woke up in the hospital, with only a few memories. My name, age, some personal likes and dislikes, etc." I told her, not letting go of Yuugi.

"And those would be?" Anzu asked.

"Hitomi, nineteen, and none of your business." I listed.

"There's no way you're nineteen. You're too much of a shrimp." Jounouchi scoffed.

"I know. Everyone thinks I'm twelve. The hospital is trying to send me to the orphanage because of it." I pouted.

"Wow. You look even younger when you pout." Jounouchi commented "I didn't think it would be possible."

"What do you mean 'trying'?" Anzu asked.

"I ran." I gave her a smile.

"Those them?" Jounouchi gesture to two familiar suits.

"Shit. I have to run. See you guys around!" I called as I bolted a different direction than the suits.

I ran as fast as I can and I could practically feel the two suits breathing down my neck. My breath was coming out in pants. I rounded into an alley and quickly was blocked by the two monkey suits. Kumoji grabbed me and I quickly reacted defensively. I brought my elbow back into his stomach. Stomped my foot down on one of Kumoji's. Brought the back of my fist up into his nose then turn and kneed him hard in the groin. Kumoji sunk to the ground with a groan of pain.

Ryujii rushed to grab me and I quickly grabbed his arm pushing it away from me and bringing my own counterattack, hitting him in the Adam's apple. He grunted as the air was driven out of him. He huddled over huffing trying to regain his breath.

Looks like those four months worth of Karate Club in college paid off big time.

I turned and ran. I didn't wanna wait for them to recover.

**A/n: Well this is the second version of this chapter. Review and tell me what you think. :D**


	3. Falling

I continued running until I came to a huge gate. I stared at it considering for a second. If I slipped in there it would take them ages to find me. On the other hand it would be trespassing and I would get sent to Juvvie instead of the orphanage.

The sound of a shuffling run brought my attention to the area behind me. Ryujii and Kumoji had managed to give chase once more. Apparently I hadn't hit them hard enough.

Well there went my choice. I sucked in my gut and slid through the gate. I thought my head was going to get stuck for a second but I twisted slightly and my head slipped free. Thank goodness for small favors. I thought to myself. I ran along the border of the fence and slipped into a small grove of trees that seemed to be along the fence. I was just close enough to hear the argument that Ryujii and Kumoji got in with the security guard at the fence.

"But we have to get in there!" Kumoji demanded angrily.

"I'm telling you that this is private property and you're not allowed." the guard replied.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience but our ward slipped through the gaps in the gate." Ryujii tried to reason.

"Ward? I haven't seen anyone try to enter all day except you two."

"She's about four-foot-four, long blue hair, and big purple eyes. She needs to be taken to the orphanage. She's suffering from amnesia but no one has come to claim her and she's delusional." Kumoji stated rudely. I felt offended. I wasn't delusional.

"Delusional?"

"She's under the impression that she's nineteen years old." Ryujii answered sounding disappointed in Kumoji.

"Uh huh. Did you ever think you're the delusional ones. No one has entered the estates except Kaiba-sama and his little brother." the guard sounded as if that was the last he was going to say on the subject.

"I'd like to talk to Kaiba-san, there really is a girl on his property." Kumoji demanded.

The guard sighed sounding put out. "Fine give me a minute." he retreated a few feet away and pulled out a cell phone while keeping an eye on Ryujii and Kumoji.

"Kaiba-sama, I'm sorry to bother you with this but there are two men claiming an orphan managed to slip through the gate and onto your property...No I didn't see her..." he turned away from the cell phone for a second looking toward Ryujii and Kumoji. "You two have any proof?"

Both Ryujii and Kumoji held out their wallets. Apparently their IDs.

The guard turned back to his cell. "They have Child Service badges... Yes, sir... Yes, sir... I'll send a group out right away to see if there's anyone on the grounds... Yes, sir... You want the orphan brought to your office, sir?...Of course, sir. It's none of my business." he hung up the phone.

"You two stay here. We'll send out a search party. If she's there you'll be getting her soon enough." the guard said. Kumoji looked about ready to protest but Ryujii shook his head at him and he dropped it.

I sighed. I wasn't going to be free for long if I stayed around. But this was the best place in the city to hide. I couldn't exactly sneak back out...

Maybe I could hide in the tree until they stopped searching for me. I stared up at the branches, shuddering slightly. I took a deep breath and pulled myself up onto the first branch. I stared down. They'll still be able to see you from here. I warned myself. Go just a little higher. I silently urged myself. I was terrified of heights so this wasn't exactly my brightest ideas...

Finally I settled myself into a nice forked branch, a good twelve feet off the ground. I had wedged myself in there tightly and braided my hair and tucked it into the back of my shirt. It would be better not to have such an odd color standing out in a tree. Any other color would've been fine, but nooo I got turquoise hair.

I glanced at the handkerchief that had been wrapped around my eyes less than an hour previously and thought about it. The kerchief was black, it would cover my hair a little bit at least... Fuck it. I put the now bandana over my hair, covering nearly all of the colorful strands.

I lounged in the tree for what seemed like forever but no one seemed to notice me. I was thankful for that. I would hate to try to get out of this tree in a hurry. It took forever to get up here and I'd rather not jump down. I'd probably break my ankle or worse.

I sighed. This sucked. Who knew hiding from guards could be so boring? Wasn't it supposed to be thrilling or something? Isn't that why most thieves started? The thrill and the payout? Oh well. I could catch up on some much needed sleep. I would sneak out of Kaiba's estate as soon as I woke up. I wound my leg around the limbs I was secured between to make sure I wouldn't fall. Then I leaned back against the tree trunk and allowed myself to doze.

I was woken what felt like a short time later by the sound of a guard shouting. "I've found her! Someone get a ladder!" He ordered. Shit. That isn't good. I unraveled myself from around my branch and looked down.

"Get down here!" The guard yelled up at me.

"And get stuck in some dumb orphanage because people think I'm younger than I am?" I asked.

He didn't reply.

I scoffed. "Not in this life time. If you want me to get down you're going to have to drag me."

He looked resigned. Apparently he had already considered that would be my answer.

Suddenly there was a group of four guards below the tree I had chosen. The first guard set up the ladder and started climbing. Shit. I didn't think he would actually come after me. I started looking for a path out of the trouble I had gotten myself into.

I was about to move when the guard's hand grabbed onto my ankle. I kicked out trying to pull myself away. He tugged back and I felt myself falling.

I screamed as I felt myself start to fall, my eyes closing, bracing for the impact I thought was going to happen soon.

The man holding me grunted as he tried to keep hold of me and not fall himself.

"Drop her!" One of the guards below called up.

My eyes popped open from their closed position. "Don't drop her!" I protested.

"Drop her." the guard repeated.

We both looked down. The group of three was huddled in a small group under me. The guard holding me nodded and gently let go of me. I screamed in fear. I was heading head first towards the ground. I struggled to move my body so I wasn't heading head first anymore and I managed to move so I was now parallel to the ground instead of perpendicular.

I felt the air knocked out of me as six arms caught me.

I was crying now. I couldn't stop myself. Tears were sliding down my face unchecked.

I was moved into the arms of one of my catchers and pressed gently to a rather buff chest. I didn't care very much at that moment though. I turned towards the chest pressing my face into the shirt there. I hiccuped a sob out as I tried to recover from the fear I had suffered.

I felt us moving but wasn't really paying attention. I was too distraught at the moment.

"What did you do?" a male voice asked, a certain amount of warning was in his voice.

"We found her in a tree and we had to get her down." the chest I was pressed against rumbled as the man spoke.

"That doesn't explain why she's crying." the warning was even clearer.

"Makoto had to go up a ladder to get her and the both nearly fell. We told Makoto to drop her so we could catch her and he could get down safely." the man answered.

"Put her down and leave." his voice was monotone. Apparently he didn't wanna show a reaction to that.

I was set down gently on a couch, and left. I pulled my legs up to my chest and buried my face into my knees. I hated when people saw me cry. It had been a source of a lot of emotional bullying when I was in high school. The bullies liked to taunt me about stuff and considered it a great success when they could get me to cry, especially after I started hiding my emotions.

I gave a shuddering breath as I wiped my face off with the sleeve of my shirt. I looked up at the man. He was rather intimidating. He was about 6'1'' or 6'2'', had brown hair, and glacial blue eyes. He was wearing a long sleeved black tee-shirt with blue buckles spaced evenly, a sleveeless white trench coat with a red interior, worn open. He was also wearing a necklace that looked like a Duel Monster card.

"Now that you've composed yourself; why did you decide to hide on my property?"

"Cause the Child Service members wouldn't have dared entered the grounds. Plus I thought I could hide out until they went away then sneak back out. They would've assumed I would've stayed in the 'safe zone' so to speak and I could find a less risky place to hide." I answered truthfully. If there was anything I knew about Kaiba it was that he hated liars.

"Hm. Good strategy, I respect that. You're obviously smarter than a twelve year old."

"I'm not twelve. I'm nineteen. I'm just extremely short." I frowned.

"Hm." Kaiba stated thoughtfully.

"You don't believe me." I stated.

"No, I don't."

"Give me a task, you think only a nineteen year old would be able to do." I offered.

"Fine. If you can give me a good match in Duel Monsters I'll consider believing you."

"I don't have a deck." I answered.

"That's okay. I have plenty of cards." he pressed a switch and an almost invisable door opened revealing a white room filled with cards.

I whistled, impressed with how many cards he had. "That's a nice collection of cards." I muttered.

"Go ahead and pick any forty. After all it would be a bore if I knew what cards you were going to use. You may use any of the cards here. I'll give you half an hour to sort out a deck." he stated sitting down behind his desk once more.

"What's in it for you?" I asked turning half way to face him.

"A little bit of entertainment." he answered blandly.

"The stakes?" I asked.

"If you manage to impress me I'll keep the Child Service people from taking you to an orphanage. If you disappoint me, I'll hand you over to them." he answered simply.

I nodded. Pretty high stakes, but I had nothing to lose. I would've been handed over if I hadn't agreed anyway.

I began searching for my favorite two cards immediately. And I quickly found them. Dark Magician Girl and Monster Reborn were the start of my new deck. Now I needed to think more strategically. I needed something to defeat his Blue Eyes... did he even have them yet? Better be safe than sorry. Dragon Capture Jar was quickly added to my deck. It would at least hold them off for a while.

I found Kuriboh and quickly grabbed it along with the Multiply spell card. I went through meticulously picking out a mixture of monster, spell, and trap cards. Hoping it would be enough to at least impress Kaiba.

I finally stared down at my completed deck. Please let me at least put up a decent fight. I wasn't expecting to win after all, he was a champion duelist, but I wanted to at least put up a fight.

**A/n: Does anyone want to know all the cards I selected for Marie/Hitomi's deck? Review please! Next time will be the duel. :D**


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